


The Brass Guard

by Verdic



Category: Mordheim: City of the Damned, Warhammer Fantasy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 13:50:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13548648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verdic/pseuds/Verdic
Summary: This is based on my Reiklander Mordheim warband in the game Mordheim: City of the Damned.





	The Brass Guard

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on my Reiklander Mordheim warband in the game Mordheim: City of the Damned.

Erak backed up as quietly as he could. His heart was in his mouth, his palms slick with sweat. He had just tried to leave a building and saw there was three zombies milling around the area in front of the door, picking up small chunks of the glowing green stone known as Wyrdstone. While he was no coward, Erek knew two reasons to avoid destroying the zombies.

The first was that there were three of them. While he could take them one on one with no problem, three might overwhelm him. The second was that if there were zombies here, that meant there was either a necromancer or a vampire nearby. The thought of facing a vampire again nearly made him drop his ax and shield so he could run faster. The only time the Brass Guards had tasted defeat was when they had fought a pair of vampires. The zombies and ghouls were easily dispatched, but the vampires had torn them apart in the most literal sense. 

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Erek continued to slowly back up. He was nearly out of the doorway and into cover when he heard a war cry. It seemed vaguely familiar. It was a deep voice, but too feminine to be any of his companions. He waited another moment before he could hear the words more clearly.

“By Sigmar’s Wrath!” Erek stopped. He recognized that voice. It was Ursula. The unmistakable Kislivite burr to her accent made sure of that. He saw her on the opposite side of the courtyard, charging the zombies. Without realizing it, Erek found that he was charging as well, Sigmar’s name ripping from his lips. The zombies had been shambling to face Ursula, letting Erek to cut at them with ease. He brought his axe down into the back of the leftmost Zombie. His axe missed the rotting studded leather and crashed right into the spine, toppling the zombie. He used his momentum for a shield bash, shattering the skull.

Bringing his axe back, he swept a powerful overhead chop at the middle zombie. His axe buried itself into the zombie’s skull as it came down at the same time that Ursula’s hammer slammed the skull upwards. As the last zombie fell to the ground, Ursula and Erek could finally see each other clearly. Erek was of average height but he had to tilt his head up to look into Ursula’s eyes. She was taller than most, and well built. She wielded her specialty hammers as if they weighed nothing. Erek knew from first hand experience that those hammers were anything but light. They shared a quick smile before moving together, turning to stand back to back. Neither of them moved as they waited for the summoner of the undead. 

“Well, I never thought I would see you again.” Ursula said after a minute of stillness. “I thought you would be dead long ago.”

“I’m sorry I disappointed you, m’lady Hempfkopf.” Erek replied, using her title.

“I am no longer a noblewoman, I am a Sister of Battle in the service of our savior. Treat me as such.” She replied, bending down to pick up some of the Wyrdstone. Erek waited till she was standing again before he crouched down and picked up some as well. He felt the usual tingle and small needling pain as he picked up the Wyrdstone. 

Many of the priests in the refugee camps outside of the city claimed it was Chaos made solid. Ursula had told him the Superiors of her order believed the same thing. After all he had seen, he had every reason to believe her. It felt evil and corrupting in his hands. He quickly placed the stones in a pouch and tried to forget about them.

“I’ll do that as soon as you admit that you missed me.” He smirked. He knew that she would be smirking too. Once they were standing, they walked over to where the zombies had been harvesting the Wyrdstone. They both knew they must look ridiculous, but neither cared. It had kept them alive before, and it gave them a good excuse to remain close together.

“Where is Ismagur? Are you still working for him?” She asked, skipping over his question.

“Somewhere around here. We got scattered. I was trying to get back when I heard your cry of righteousness, m’lady.” Ursula smiled. She enjoyed talking with Erek, even though he was a commoner. He knew how to play the game. Her sisters and the superiors were often very humorless.

“Well, I hope they are worried about you.” There was genuine concern in her voice. “You remember what Sister Superior Helga said last time.”

“I know. The next time she sees me, or any of the Brass, she won’t hesitate to kill us, even though we freed you two.” Erek had actually been worried about seeing the rest of Ursula’s cloister before linking back up with the rest of the Brass. The Sisters of Battle were known for their hard heartedness. He knew that the Sister Superior would not flinch from killing him right now, especially since he was holding Wyrdstone. “You’ll also get in a lot of trouble.”

“I know.” The answer was short, but they both understood the message. They didn’t mind the punishment if they shared the time together now. Once they had finished scraping the Wyrdstone from the area, they finally looked at each other. “So, where was your wagon?” Erek took the lead, slowly making his way back to where he recalled their wagon being.

Erek constantly readjusted his grip on his axe. The area around them was unnaturally quiet. Even when there was no one around. There were normally etheric moans, hisses, and shouts. Erek was able to count on one hand how many times he had gone 5 minutes without seeing any vermin. The hair on his arms was standing erect and he felt a chill go down his spine. Shaking his head, he figured it had to be all the Wyrdstone he was carrying. 

“It is not only me then?” Ursula asked. “I am worried by this strange feeling.” Unconsciously, the pair moved closer together and started moving slower. They kept closer to the shadows, trying to hide. Erek was able to move with enough dexterity that if the normal noises of Mordheim were around, it would have been hard to tell that someone was trying to sneak. Unfortunately, Ursula was wearing partial plate armor and she made enough noise for both of them. 

“Wait here.” Erek held out his hand. They had been sneaking along a line of shops, but they were coming to a large intersection. They were close to where the wagon should have been, but Erek couldn’t hear anybody. The new blood should at least be trying to call out for the others. Erek gently placed his shield on the ground, freeing up a hand so he could inch forwards. 

He pressed his back up against the corner of the building, looking out across the intersection. He couldn’t see anything to the North or East. Slowly, he pushed his head past the corner of the building. He found it odd that he had to push his head past anything, but that was the only way to describe his action as the air seemed to be thick and clinging. It tickled his skin, making him think it was magic. Taking a deep breath, he plunged through the magic, his palms sweating with the liquid that should have kept his mouth from being as dry as it was.

When he was finally able to see, he was amazed that he could hear the sounds of Mordheim as well. He also realized he was looking at a full pitched battle. He could see a tide of zombies swarming the large street. Holding them back looked to be a few score men. They were wearing the uniforms of nearly a dozen mercenary bands, and there were plenty that weren’t in a distinguishable uniform.   
Pulling himself back, he picked up the pace, realizing that there was nothing in the area to hide from. He grabbed his shield and motioned for Ursula to join him. “There is a battle raging around the corner. It looks like a tidal wave of undead.” Ursula poked her head around the corner.

“That is more than I can take alone with you.” She whispered. “I need my sisters.” She looked at him sadly. 

“It looks like I am going to meet the Father either way.” Erek said, referring to Morr, the god of death.

“I will see you once we defeat them. Go make sure my sisters will be able to turn the tide.” She gave him a quick smile and took off running in the direction she came from, looking for her sisters. Erek sighed and pushed back through the barrier. He was submerged in the noise of the battle. Jogging forwards, he joined the other mercenaries in combat. 

Erek took a quick look over the situation. It looked like there had been nearly a hundred mercenaries to begin with, but there were only forty left. While there were many dismembered bodies on the ground, most of them appeared to be recently killed and not part of the zombie horde. Erek knew that when it came to the undead, they had to kill the summoner and they would all fall. But first, they had to try and break through. 

Cutting around the side, Erek came across a group of ghouls trying to flank the mercenaries. Charging in, Erek brought his axe down in a deadly arc. The ghoul tried to raise a bone dagger to defend itself, but it was caught off guard and was too slow. The ax buried itself into the ghoul’s skull, dropping it. Not wanting to give up the momentum, Erek thrust his shield into the face of another ghoul. There was a sickening snap as the shield, propelled by the force of his speeding body, snapped the ghoul’s neck. 

Erek felt a sharp pain in his side as a spear made of bone slammed into him. It was too dull to penetrate the leather armor he wore, but it was strong enough knock the wind from him. He brought his shield up to block the follow up thrust when he heard a cascade of gunshots. He heard the smack of shot hitting the remaining pair of ghouls. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Dieter and Konard running forwards from the mass of the fighting.

“Where were you?” Konard asked, trying to reload his pistols. Deiter was busy loading his hunting rifle. Erek took his usual spot, standing in front of them, making sure they could reload. 

“I got separated and found some assistance.” He lashed out at a zombie that had broken away from the group. He chopped the leg off and stomped the skull flat when the zombie toppled over. “Ursula and her cloister are about.” Deiter started laughing as he primed his gun. Deiter, like Erek, was one of the early members of the Brass Guard. He was a wiry man, standing a few inches shorter than Erek. He had been a poacher before he had come to Mordheim. His hair and beard were scraggly and black, thinning prematurely. His eyes were always on the move, glaring out of his weathered skin, worried there was danger around every corner. Most people would call it paranoia. In Mordheim it was just normal.

Konard was one of the newest members of the Brass Guards. He was barely twenty years old and looked it. While Deiter had aged early and looked like an old man in his mid-thirties, Erek still retained a somewhat youthful look at twenty-eight. Konard had been in the Pistolkorp before he had been disgraced and thrown out. While he was handy with his pistols, he always had a superior attitude. This was accentuated by his youthful looks and gaunt body. 

“I’m amazed you are still alive.” Deiter said, finishing his reloading. 

“I only came across Ursula, not the entire cloister.” Deiter raised an eyebrow. Erek cursed his slip. Only Isgamur knew of the relationship he had formed with Ursula. “We have…an understanding. She went to find her cloister to held defeat these things.” Erek punctuated the sentence by cleaving another zombie. Deiter aimed and demolished a ghoul trying to sneak up on them. 

“Didn’t know you liked the religious type. No wonder why you never let Helga have her way with you.” Deiter started to reload. “Can’t say I want to feel the wrath of a Sister scorned.” Konard looked at Erek with some derision.

“You like one of those wenches? Stuck up blasphemers.” Konard shot a zombie that had wandered too close. 

Erek swung around, holding his axe right near Konard. “It’s rather unwise to say that about them. They are completely devout. I won’t have you speak of Ursula Hempfkopf that way.” Konard snorted and fired his second pistol at another zombie. Erek had to restrain himself from thrashing the youth, since they were in the middle of a battle. 

“We won’t do much out here in the press. Where are the others?” Konard and Deiter shrugged. “Fine, we need to get around this horde and find the summoner.” Once the two had reloaded, Erek ran into the closet building. “If we can get around them, we can end this.”

Erek ran off into the house, closely followed by Deiter and Konard. Finding a stairwell, they ran up to the third floor of the rickety building. As they looked down on the battlefield, Erek realized how desperate the fight was. There were nearly three times as many zombies and ghouls as there were mercenaries left. Looking closer, Erek could see the tell tale blue and red scheme of the Brass Guards mixed in with the dead. “By Morr’s gates, this is bad.” Looking around, he pointed to a steeple. “Deiter, think you can spot the necromancer from there?”

Deiter slung his rifle and started to climb the broken spire. Erek watched nervously. The spire was not very stable, and he couldn’t deal with trying to end the fight and take care of a wounded comrade. He resisted the urge to pace or bite his nails as Deiter examined the area. After what felt like far too many minutes, Deiter pointed to a building across the road, a few houses down. 

“Come on, let’s go.” Erek called. Now that he knew where his target was, he couldn’t stop from fidgeting as Deiter made his way down the spire. “Hurry up.” He called out over his shoulder when Deiter finally dropped onto the floor. 

“Who are you to ord…” Konard started before Deiter elbowed him.

“Quiet youngblood. Erek knows what he is doing.” Deiter ran after Erek, gun primed and ready.


End file.
